Year: 2021

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Filmjitsu – BJJ in Four Christmases

Every once in a while, Jiu-Jitsu finds its way into popular culture in a way that leaves BJJ geeks pointing at the screen and going “ooh ooh I know that one!” (Insert meme of Leonardo DiCaprio pointing at screen). This is the first entry into a recurring (maybe) segment. 

In four christmases, Vince Vaughn’s character Brad is forced to visit his family for Christmas (a horrible fate I wouldn’t wish on anyone but my worst enemies, people who see that a toilet paper roll is getting low and don’t wipe as much as they normally would so that they won’t have to replace it). Seconds from walking through the door, Jon Favreau’s character Denver jumps a rear naked choke on Brad (née Orlando) and Tim McGraw’s character Dallas grabs what looked like a gift wrap position. 

Minutes later, after Brad acts like a dummy twice and calls MMA human cockfighting (shoutout to the late great John McCain for that immortal sound bite) and then insults Denver’s wife using spray cheese as if Easy Cheese on Ritz isn’t a delicious treat, his brother pulls him into a diamond position and taunts him by turning the arm the wrong way for an arm bar (but keeping the diamond position, because position before submission) before possibly switching to a wrist lock for the tap.

In the end, the Four Christmases proves that art imitates life and the brother who practices Jiu-Jitsu (Denver) is happier, healthier, and has a rich home life filled with love while the brother who judges BJJ is fundamentally unhappy and is about to see his personal life fall to pieces in front of his eyes.

Image via Four Christmases Theatrical Trailer on YouTube

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How To Do A Closed Guard Elevator Sweep

The closed guard is an advantageous position in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, which may come as a surprise to many inexperienced fighters or wrestlers. By using the closed guard, the bottom fighter can control the top fighter’s hips, mitigating their ability to throw punches and keeping them from making any moves to better their position. 

While there are many attacks from the guard, in MMA or a street fight or against a larger, stronger opponent you might have trouble using the guard as an attacking position. For those situations, or if you just want to make your opponent have to deal with your weight on top of them to tire them out, sweeps are an essential tool in any BJJ fighter’s arsenal.

Sweeps are methods of moving from one position in BJJ to a better one by using body mechanics and balance rather than brute strength, so even a smaller opponent can sweep the largest fighter. If you look around your gym, you’ll regularly see small, average looking higher belts who look like they wouldn’t win a fight sweeping much larger and stronger white belts who don’t know what’s coming.

Sweeps are such an important part of any guard game that even though the Gracie family preaches the power of the guard, there are five different sweeps in the Gracie BJJ Blue Belt requirements. 

The elevator sweep is a powerful sweep that uses an opponent’s strength and momentum against them. When an opponent is in your guard and pushing you to the ground, you may feel helpless and frustrated because you aren’t able to attempt an arm bar from guard or a triangle from guard. But don’t despair, that forward push that is smashing you into the mat can be redirected to elevate (get it??) your opponent over you so that you land on top, ready to push your own agenda. Using an opponent’s plan against them is one of the joys of BJJ!

Start: Guard with opponent pushing down onto you with one leg posted

Step 1: Drop one foot onto opponent’s posted leg (this will be elevator side) and shrimp out to that side

Step 2: Swim elevator-side foot to underneath opponent’s thigh and flex toes to hook

Step 3: Underhook elevator-side arm

Step 4: Drop chopping-side foot to opponent’s knee and pull knee in towards you

Step 5: Punch elevator-side arm up and across

Step 6: Lift opponent with elevator foot and follow their body as it falls over you

End: Mount via elevator sweep

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How To Do The Anchor and Base Mount Control Technique

Maintaining the mount in BJJ is an important skill to have. There isn’t much in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu that’s more frustrating than fighting with your opponent, knocking them back, passing their guard, passing their half guard, maintaining side control, and finally passing to mount only to have them use one of the many mount escapes to roll you onto your back or reclaim their guard. 

The mount escape game in BJJ has so many options that it’s almost as important to know how to maintain your mount when your opponent is desperately trying to escape. Having good mount retention allows you to stay mounted long enough to attempt one of the many submissions from mount.

The mount anchor and base drill will teach you essential mount retention techniques.

Start: Mount with arms posted over opponent’s shoulders to both sides of their head

Step 1: Bring your feet together underneath opponent’s knees

Step 2: Drive your hips into opponent’s hips and stomach

Step 3: When opponent pushes you to one side, that side’s knee and hand both splay out as the other side foot wraps around their leg and your arm scoops their head as the anchor

End: Mount

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How To Do A Heel Drag Elbow Mount Escape

Escaping mount is one of the most important skills you learn from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. At its core, BJJ is a martial art, and you learn it in order to win a fight. There is no way you’re ever going to win a fight while your opponent is sitting on your stomach or chest and can rain down punches on you or (in a strict grappling match) is free to impose try submissions without exposing themselves to any threat. 

That’s why a large portion of the Gracie BJJ blue belt test includes mount escapes like the Standard Trap and Roll Mount Escape, the Punch Block Trap and Roll Mount Escape, the Headlock Trap and Roll Mount Escape, the Standard Elbow Mount Escape, the Hook Removal Elbow Mount Escape, the Fish Hook Elbow Mount Escape, and this technique, the Heel Drag Elbow Mount Escape. 

The Gracie BJJ blue belt test is in depth with mount escapes because it is essential that you have multiple options you can rely on to give you paths to escape the position, depending on how your opponent responds to your escape attempts. SundarBJJ points out that this heel drag elbow mount escape is a perfect response if your opponent fights the fish hook escape by shifting their weight onto the leg you’re trying to lift. That can be frustrating, but every situation in BJJ has options, and your opponent has just opened you up to the heel drag elbow mount escape.

Start: Mounted with opponent using a heavy knee to prevent you from escaping

Step 1: Circle your non escape side leg around opponent’s escape side ankle and bite down with knee as in figure four 

Step 2: Switch hips towards non escape side to drag opponent’s heel towards center of your body

Step 3: Push opponent’s knee down further into trap

*Note: You can stop here to play a half guard bottom game*

Step 4: Swim escape side arm in front of opponent’s arm and around their head

Step 5: Shrimp towards escape side

Step 6: Brace opponent’s non escape side hip

Step 7: Drag non escape side knee in front of opponent’s hip

Step 8: Shrimp towards non escape side and recover guard

End: Full guard

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How To Do a Fish Hook Elbow Escape From Mount in BJJ

Some say that the UFC and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu truly made it in the world when Friends did an episode about it. And in the opening to that episode “The One With The Ultimate Fighting Competition,” there was reference to a fish hook. 

Monica: “It’s sort of like wrestling, but without the costumes.”

Joey: “And it’s not fake. It’s totally brutal.”

Chandler: “Yeah, it’s two guys in the ring and the rules are THERE ARE NO RULES”

Monice: “You can, like, bite and pull people’s hair and stuff?”

Ross: “Anything goes except eye gouging and fish hooking.”

Monica: “What’s fish hooking?

Ross: “What’s fish h—”

*interrupted by Joey fish hooking him*

Ross: “thanks man that would have been really hard to describe”

So of course when the Gracie family wrote out their BJJ Blue Belt Test, they included fish hooking. The fish hook that is actually used in BJJ isn’t as dangerous or disgusting as the Friends fish hook, but they do share a name.

In actual BJJ the fish hook is a technique for escaping the mount when your opponent is wise to your standard elbow escape and hides their leg from you, and this sneaky ninja move will let you work around that.

Start: Mounted, opponent has tight legs securing you

Step 1: Bend your knee on the side you’d like to extract first until opponent’s foot pops up and over your knee

Step 2: Hook your other foot under opponent’s foot (this is your fish hook)

Step 3: Lift opponent’s foot up with your hand while you push down on their knee with your elbow to clear the path for your extraction leg (this is your fish hook

Step 4: Swim extraction side hand over opponent’s shoulder and then over their neck to grip opposite side shoulder

Step 5: Step extraction side foot over opponent’s leg from the outside to trap it

Step 6: Extract trapped leg by slicing knee inside of opponent’s knee and switching jips for more room

Finish: Closed guard via fish hook elbow escape from mount

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How To Do a Hook Removal Mount Escape in BJJ

In BJJ, MMA, and in street fights, being mounted is one of if not the worst position you can be in. When mounted, your opponent is using their weight to control all of your movements while leaving their hands and feet free to stop any escape attempts or mount their own attacks. Being mounted in BJJ only gets worse when someone grapevines you and hooks their heels under your legs, stretching you out until you can’t bridge or upa.

With no ability to post either of their feet, the grapevined BJJ fighter is stuck with no chance to create space between their body and the top player’s hips. To get back to a position they could upa from, the bottom fighter would need to leg curl with enough strength to overpower their opponent’s extension. Unless the bottom fighter is built like elastigirl, that’s a losing battle.

The BJJ hook removal mount escape is an essential Jiu-Jitsu mount escape, so critical that it is part of the Gracie BJJ Blue Belt test guide. 

Start: Mounted and grapevined

Step 1: Kick one leg out to the side to strip opponent’s grapevine and then circle inside

Step 2: Use free foot to peel opponent’s other grapevine off and kick the trapped leg straight

Step 3: Frame a hand on opponent’s knee to stop its movement

Step 4: Slide the frame-side knee through in front of opponent’s knee

Step 5: Step free foot over opponent’s leg to trap it and switch onto you opposite hip

Step 6: Frame against opponent’s other leg and slide that knee through

Finish: Guard via Hook Removal Mount Escape

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How To Do An Ezekiel Choke in BJJ

The Ezekiel choke in BJJ is named after Ezequiel Paraguassu, an olympic Judo fighter who studied with the Gracie BJJ family before the 1988 olympics to perfect his ground fighting. According to Jiu Jitsu Legacy, Paraguassu was frustrated by the tight closed guard of his new Brazilian friends until he remembered an old, rarely used judo choke called the Sode Guruma Jime, Japanese for sleeve wheel constriction. The choke was so effective and popular that it was named after him (albeit with a misspelling).

The Ezekiel choke uses the cross face position from mount, half guard, or even from inside someone’s guard to grip onto the free arm’s sleeve and use that sleeve to choke the opponent. This setup doesn’t require sacrificing your good position, so it’s a great submission to attempt even if your opponent defends it well. 

Start: Mount

Step 1: Establish cross face behind opponent’s neck

Step 2: Grip attacking arm’s sleeve with four fingers of cross face hand

Step 3: Slide attacking hand under opponent’s chin and over their neck

Step 4: Pour weight onto your hands and into the choke

Finish: Submission via Ezekiel choke

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How To Do A No Gi Ezekiel Choke in BJJ

The no gi ezekiel choke in BJJ is one of the meanest chokes in the game. Achieved by wrapping your arms around your opponent’s neck and then figure fouring them so that no space is left and your opponent’s head feels like it’s going to pop off, this choke is one that should be in every Jiu-Jitsu fighter’s arsenal. Slow and methodical but strong and tight, the no gi ezekiel choke is absolutely disheartening for the victim.

The no gi ezekiel choke can also be used in gi BJJ, but there is an easier ezekiel choke that uses a grip on the gi sleeve instead of figure fouring the arms.

Start: Mount

Step 1: Establish deep cross face by pushing opponent’s head into bicep with your head

Step 2: Clear opponent’s free hand so that both of your arms are able to attack the neck (threaten an arm triangle so that opponent’s defense leads them to an underhook)

Step 3: Lean towards arm with cross face

Step 4: Grip bicep of your attacking arm with cross face hand

Step 5: Slide hand along opponent’s ear to their neck

Step 6: Squeeze arms similar to rear naked choke

Finish: Submission via no gi ezekiel choke

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How To Do A Headlock Trap and Roll Escape

Being fully mounted in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is an awful position. With no opportunities to attack your opponent, your only goal when mounted is to escape from the mount and recover your guard or switch to the top where you have a chance to break your opponent’s guard and pass to an advantageous position. In MMA or a street fight, the mount is an even worse position. That is why escaping from mount is a crucial tool to have in BJJ and is included in the How To Get A Blue Belt guide. 

A common position when the bottom fighter is strong or very active trying to escape is the cross-face or headlock, where the top fighter will reach their arm under the bottom fighter’s head and through so that their elbow is against the bottom person’s neck. This locks them down onto the bottom fighter and sets up attacks like the Ezekiel choke.

The headlock trap and roll escape in BJJ allows you to sweep your opponent off of their position mounted on top of you even when they have you in a headlock, an even worse position! The headlock that secures the mount can be used by the bottom fighter to trap the top fighter and turn their attack against them as they are swept to their back.

Start: Mounted with a headlock or cross-face

Step 1: Grab arm with headlock and make your head heavy to trap in place

Step 2: Step foot on same side as headlock over opponent’s foot to trap it

Step 3: Wrap other arm around opponent’s back in a body hug

Step 4: Bridge hips up

Step 5: Reach body hug arm across towards other side

Step 6: Switch hip to follow opponent over

Finish: Opponent’s guard via headlock trap and roll escape

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How To Do A Punch Block Trap and Roll Mount Escape in BJJ

The punch block trap and roll mount escape is a simple, basic, effective mount escape. This variation is based on the idea of blocking a punch, so it is definitely essential for a street fight or MMA, but it is so essential for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu that it is a part of the Gracie BJJ How To Get a Blue Belt guide.

This mount sweep relies on one of the fundamental ideas in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu when thinking about sweeping or escaping from your opponent: remove one of the legs of the table. Think of an opponent’s limbs as the legs of a table (since they have four of them and usually use all four to support themselves when they’re in a top position), and then think of what would happen if you were to take one of the legs away from a table (it would fall over, if not immediately then definitely if you bumped it towards the missing leg). This is a fundamental rule when escaping or sweeping an opponent. In the punch block trap and roll escape, you take away one of the table legs (the opponent’s arm) and then set up a block on their leg to stop them from changing from a normal table into a tripod. This allows you to simply visualize the trap and roll mount escape shown in the video below.

Start: Mounted with opponent posturing up to punch

Step 1: Sit up and hug opponent’s midsection to reduce space

Step 2: Bridge hips to push opponent forward and force them to post their hands on the floor

Step 3: Reach hands up and onto opponent’s shoulders from behind and climb up opponent’s body with legs
Step 4: Trap opponent’s arm on the rolling side with a whizzer-style over-elbow arm wrap

Step 5: Post rolling-side foot on the outside of opponent’s leg to trap it

Step 6: Bridge up and to rolling side and reach other-side arm up to roll opponent onto their back

Finish: Opponent’s guard via punch block trap and roll escape